I implore anyone who is interested in Skullcandy following the introduction of the Skullcandy Aviators to please be overly cautious when considering buying the Skullcandy Hesh 2.0. It is quite literary the most uncomfortable and poorly designed headphone I’ve ever had the misfortune of wearing. That includes those cheap plastic VoIP headsets that are used by most consumers as well as those cheap headphones airlines give out. Yes!!! The Hesh 2.0 is that bad.

This all began when I made a stop at Best Buy to see what new headphones they had on display. That included the Hesh 2.0. At first sight, they look quite slick and an improvement over the original Hesh. “What could go wrong?” I try on a pair, and to my dismay, the headband greets me by drilling into my skull. I tried extending the headphones, but they didn’t have any decent balance on my ears without the headband also resting on my head. Trying to convert the Hesh 2.0 into either an around-neck or under-jaw set of headphones similarly yielded poor and unsatisfactory results. For those that have some lying around somewhere, take some of your old Legos and press them into the top of head with both hands as hard as you can. This is how the Hesh 2.0 feels. The ear cups were actually pretty decent. Decent, but definitely not great.

Just to give you a comparison, I tested the Skullcandy Aviators right next to the Hesh 2.0 and those were quite comfortable. The thin headband covering rested nicely on my head and was quite comfortable. The ear cups were awesome as well. Please don’t take this as an endorsement of the Skullcandy Aviators, since I would caution against anything Skullcandy with their trade-mark “Sketchy-Build-Quality.” The Aviators feel like the hinges will become loose and fall apart in no time at all.

I thought, “Well maybe these sound better then they feel?” I know that these were just store display models with probably poor audio players with poor DACs, but what I heard was truly unremarkable at any asking price, whether $20 or $60. This was the most boring set of cans I’ve heard in a while. Vocals stood out but had no life to them. Bass was kinda there but didn’t stand out. Maybe there were Highs, but they didn’t seem to want to intrude. Maybe there was a soundstage, but I’m not sure. No matter what volume, these headphones were just boring. Cheapo ear buds sound more v-shaped and dynamic than the Hesh 2.0.

I walked away in disgust thinking, “60 USD on over-ear headphones and they couldn’t spend $1 on padding.” Just then, some 10-year-old-ish kid walked up to the display case wearing a beanie. “Wearing a beanie, I thought, in 75 degree weather?” Just as my confusion overcame me, the kid put the Hesh 2.0 on his ears, over the beanie and proceeded to really enjoy himself. “Oh, that makes sense; you put a hat or some other head covering underneath these cans to feel comfortable.” So if any of you snowboarders/skateboarders out there on Head-Fi are considering buying these, they might just be your thing.

Oh, one more thing on the build quality. The whole headphone is made entirely of plastic save for the ear cushions, which feel like cheap pleather. The headband is inelastic and made entirely of hard plastic. The entire construction feels like it has numerous weak spots where it will snap in half at the slightest provocation. Don’t buy these if you’re looking at durability.

After watching and reading Tyle talk with Tetsuro Oishi at Innerfidelity concerning these, I was kind of pumped to try them out. “Utter disappointment!” is an understatement, to say the least.

So my buying advice is that you can find better headphones at the same or even half the price-point of the Hesh 2.0.

At this point, I’m changing my thread title to reflect my whole review in a short statement.

The NEW Skullcandy Hesh 2.0 – Bring your own padding

(BTW: How do you post a headphone review under the specific model here on Head-Fi? I'm pretty new here.)

Personally I bought these because I recently found out that Skullcandy has a new director of electrical and acoustical engineering, Tetsuro Oishi.

I somewhat disagree with you on the build quality, it is made of mostly plastic, except the headband (made of rubber or something like rubber) and padding, but it isn't cheap plastic and it doesn't creak. Yes the headband doesn't have padding, and it does hurt on occasions. But I found the padding on the earcups to be extremely comfortable, and clamping force was minimal after stretching them out over the packaging box overnight.

As for the sound quality, I was just surprised at how much Skullcandy improved. The Hesh 2.0's has good punchy bass that definitely stood out and the highs were slightly rolled off. And as for the vocals, they stood out and had some life to them. By the way, I used my iPod Touch 4g without using any of my amps. So overall, I really like these headphones and hope for more improved headphones from Skullcandy, and I find some of your statements to be false.

Personally I bought these because I recently found out that Skullcandy has a new director of electrical and acoustical engineering, Tetsuro Oishi.

I somewhat disagree with you on the build quality, it is made of mostly plastic, except the headband (made of rubber or something like rubber) and padding, but it isn't cheap plastic and it doesn't creak. Yes the headband doesn't have padding, and it does hurt on occasions. But I found the padding on the earcups to be extremely comfortable, and clamping force was minimal after stretching them out over the packaging box overnight.

As for the sound quality, I was just surprised at how much Skullcandy improved. The Hesh 2.0's has good punchy bass that definitely stood out and the highs were slightly rolled off. And as for the vocals, they stood out and had some life to them. By the way, I used my iPod Touch 4g without using any of my amps. So overall, I really like these headphones and hope for more improved headphones from Skullcandy, and I find some of your statements to be false.

In the end, we all have to make our own choices and not rely on the opinions of others. I agree to disagree with your opinion, but in the end, it's "your" opinion. It's what should matter to you.

In the end, we all have to make our own choices and not rely on the opinions of others. I agree to disagree with your opinion, but in the end, it's "your" opinion. It's what should matter to you.

agree that is the nature of the beast, everyone heard things differently and have different perspectives, kinda like the phrase ''one man's junk is another man's treasure'' this surely applies to audiophile.

I definitely agree with you on that. But the sound quality wasn't horrible from these comparing it to others in the same price range.

well its good that skullcandy is going in a positive direction, even if its not 100% better, improvement on sound quality is more important than looks, and its good to see them take a interest in not only improving the looks of their products but also the sound.

Build quality aside, it just seems like you don't like the sound signature. I'd imagine you wouldn't like anything neutral-ish either.

I don't know. The vocals didn't seem very clear nor did the bass for a pair of headphones that was supposed to be "neurtal" I'm not a basshead either. My current favorite headphone that I own is the Phillips Citiscape Downtown. I enjoy those somewhat forward mids and a punchy low-end. I've also enjoyed the Skullcandy Aviators and The Sony MDR-XB 500. More so from my Audio-Technica ATH-M-50s

Just giving my impressions. I just think a person would be more satisfied with the XB-500 or the Sennhesier HD201 at that price-range over the Hesh 2.0.

Build Quality is important to me. That's a huge reason I like the Downtown's. Really solid build.

I usually just walk by the skull candy head phones, they look like consumer grade and designed for a certain niche age group. That aside its nice that they are working to improve the sound but they don't have to, there's tons of people out there that have no clue and just want looks! They have made a mint, selling them at 60$ a pop. I agree that with a little reading Of the resources out there people can make better choices if sound is what they are looking for!

I saw the new Skullcandy display at Best Buy today. I chuckled a little when I saw the convenient mirror so you can see how cool you would look in your new headphones. It's nice that they are trying to improve quality, but I don't think they are really after the Head-Fi market.

I only listened to them for a few minutes. They sounded pretty flat. I couldn't hook up to my iphone, so I couldn't really compare to my normal music. The display had it's own music source. I couldn't turn it up very loud either.

They didn't really hurt my head, but I wouldn't call them comfortable either.

I agree with another commenter- you sound like a hater rather than a genuine reviewer. First of all, the sound can't be judged by one listen on a store display that won't let you connect to your own source. They sound pretty decent on my iPod nanno; definitely better than the previous Hesh. And while, yes, they're plastic, they're definitely more solidly built than the previous Hesh and other headphones in the same price range.

However, your assessment of the comfort is just mental. Maybe you have an overly sensitive scalp. Or an oddly shaped head. I don't know. Despite lacking cushioning on the headband, the soft rubber feels NOTHING like hard plastic legos being pressed onto my head. I barely notice the headband after over an hour of continuous use. And I'm not even wearing a hat. They're far more comfortable than the earlier Hesh model which DID have padding on the band. It's not like you've got hard plastic against your dome- the band on the 2.0 is covered with soft rubber. These headphones are not outstanding by any means, but they're not as terrible as you're making them out to be.